READDI will curate and manage projects led by interdisciplinary teams of virologists, medicinal chemists, and drug development experts from academia and industry, with specific expertise in developing antiviral drugs. Programs for each virus family will be launched for projects spanning target discovery through lead optimization and preclinical testing to advance assets to Phase I testing for safety, dosing, and efficacy. These cross-sector teams will work together throughout the entire process to ensure all stages of drug discovery and development are considered from the start, minimizing false starts and allowing READDI to focus on the most promising avenues for new drug development.
|
Traditional drug discovery approaches have significant shortcomings for future viruses. Typical antiviral drug discovery strategies seek to inhibit the function of a viral protein required for virus replication. However, this requires detailed knowledge of the viral target, which we can’t know in advance for a new virus. Creating this knowledge requires months, if not years—time we don’t have during a pandemic. READDI circumvents this problem by developing antiviral drugs targeting cellular proteins pandemic viruses need to replicate and cause disease.
|
"Collaboration has to be built into the solution. And that's really what READDI is about, is bringing together all the different people with the best expertise in the areas where we need it and focusing them on the single problem of making new antiviral drugs." |
READDI is led by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
|